1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a multi-pin modular jack provided with a mis-insertion prevention mechanism that prevents insertion of a modular plug having a number of pins different from a predetermined number of pins.
2. Related Art
Conventionally, there is a modular jack and a modular plug used to connect internal telephone lines, LAN (Local Area Networks) and the like, which are termed 6-pin types and 8-pin types because of the difference in the number of pins they have. Although the two types differ in the number of pins, the pins are mounted at the same pitch. Consequently, although it is physically impossible to insert an 8-pin modular plug into a 6-pin modular jack because of the difference in size, conversely it is possible for a 6-pin modular plug to be mistakenly inserted into an 8-pin modular jack. In order to prevent the mis-insertion of a plug into a different type of jack for which the plug is not suited, there is known an arrangement in which the modular jack is equipped with a stopper member that comes into play when a plug of a different number of pins in inserted into the jack (for example, JP-A-2002-313492).
However, with this type of conventional modular jack, the stopper member of the mis-insertion prevention mechanism that prevents mis-insertion of a modular plug of a different type consists of two stoppers provided left and right, which increases the number of parts and thus increases the cost of the modular jack.